The present invention generally relates to methods and equipment for cutting food products, and shapes of food products produced thereby.
Various types of equipment are known for slicing, shredding and granulating food products, such as vegetable, fruit, dairy, and meat products. A widely used line of machines for this purpose is commercially available from Urschel Laboratories, Inc., under the name Urschel Model CC®. Partial views of cutting heads adapted for use with various embodiments of Model CC® machines are represented in FIGS. 1, 2, and 7. The Model CC® machine line provides versions of centrifugal-type cutting apparatuses that are capable of producing uniform slices, strip cuts, shreds and granulations of a wide variety of food products at high production capacities. The cutting apparatus generally comprise one or more knife assemblies arranged in sets spaced around the circumference of their cutting heads.
FIGS. 1 and 2 represent an existing Model CC® cutting head 10 equipped with shaped knives 12 that are adapted for producing shaped (as opposed to flat) sliced food products. FIGS. 3 and 4 visually represent sequential corrugated knives 12 in phase alignment for use with the cutting head 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIGS. 3 and 4 and hereinafter, “Rd” designates a radial direction in reference to the mounting of knives (including but not limited to the knives 12 of FIGS. 3 and 4) in a cutting head (including but not limited to the cutting head 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2). FIGS. 5 and 6 represent examples of food products that can be produced with the cutting head 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 and with phase-aligned knives similar to those of FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 7 represents an existing Model CC® cutting head 20 equipped with shaped knives 12 that are adapted for producing shaped shredded food products. The shaped knives 12 are arranged to be out of phase alignment by offsetting the knives 12 with precision spacers 22. FIG. 8 visually represents the sequential knives 12 as being 180 degrees out of phase alignment for use with the cutting head 20 of FIG. 7. The radial distance of each peak 16 of a leading knife 12 (e.g., the lowermost knife 12 as viewed in FIG. 8) in the radial direction (Rd) is equal to the radial distance of each corresponding valley 18 of the next trailing knife 12 in the sequence to produce a “full shred.” (As used herein, terms such as peak(s) and valley(s) will be used in reference to the orientations of the knives shown in the figures.) FIGS. 9 through 12 represent examples of food products that can be produced with the cutting head 20 of FIG. 7 and with knives 180 degrees out of phase alignment similar to what is represented in FIG. 8.
FIG. 13 visually represents the sequential knives 12 as being 180 degrees out of phase alignment for use with the cutting head 20 of FIG. 7. As the radial position of the knives 12 increase further from the full shred position, the cutting planes of the knives 12 begin to overlap to produce the reduced shred food products. FIGS. 14 through 21 represent examples of food products that can be produced with the cutting head 20 of FIG. 7 and with overlapping knives 180 degrees out of phase alignment similar to what is represented in FIG. 13.
FIG. 22 represents an existing Model CC® cutting head 30 equipped with knife assemblies that are adapted for producing flat (as opposed to shaped) strip-cut food products. FIG. 23 represents a knife assembly 33 that can be used with the cutting head 30 of FIG. 22, and comprising a flat slicing knife 32 assembled with an additional knife 36 (referred to herein as a “julienne” knife) equipped with individual knives that are oriented roughly perpendicular to the flat slicing knife 32 to produce strip-cut flat food products. In operation, a leading edge 34 of the flat slicing knife 32 cuts a slice of the food product, followed by the julienne knife 36 that cuts the slice into strips. FIGS. 24 through 27 represent examples of food products that can be produced with the cutting head 30 of FIG. 22 and with knives similar to what is represented in FIG. 23.
FIG. 28 represents a knife assembly 38 adapted for use with the cutting head 30 of FIG. 22 comprising a shaped (corrugated) slicing knife 40 in combination with a julienne knife 44 secured between a clamp 46 and a knife holder 42. By arranging sequential knives 40 to be in phase alignment, shaped (as opposed to flat) strip-cut food products are produced. FIGS. 29 through 32 represent examples of food products that can be produced with the cutting head 30 of FIG. 22 and with knife assemblies similar to what is represented in FIG. 28.
While it should be evident that the Model CC® line of machines and knives of the type discussed above in reference to FIGS. 1 through 28 can be used to produce various types of cut food products, manufacturing challenges arise if the desired amplitude (peak-to-peak dimension) of a shaped food product (including sliced, shredded, and strip-cut food products) is increased. Therefore, improved equipment and methods are desirable for producing shaped food products similar to those discussed above for food products having large amplitudes.